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SOURCES
Census
1900 Rudolph Heig, Manhattan, Ward 4, NY ED24/1
1910 Rudolph Heig, Manhattan, Ward 4, NY, ED14/1
Marriage
Church Record Christ Evangelical 19th St. Parish Record
Rudolph Heig, 1889 3 Ave. m. Dec. 29, 1886, Augusta Margaretha Muller, 262 -
2nd
New York Marriage Certificate #63225
Rudolph Heig and Augusta Margaretha Muller, 29 December 1886
Birth Records
New York
Augusta M. Heig, b.29 Sep 1891. Certificate Number: 35171
Annie W. S. Heig, b. 10 Feb 1894. Certificate Number: 8239 [Anna
Margaret Heig]
Directories
New York City, 1890. Heig Rudolph, supt. 9 Duane, h 14 New Chambers
Stratford Directory, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1918
Heig, Rudolph, farmer], home Putney District
Newspaper Articles
Death Announcement
Bridgeport Telegram, January 12, 1919
Autobiography of Gertrude Lutze, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
for Advanced Study, Harvard University
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BIOGRAPHY
By age 16 Rudolph Heig was a clerk in an office, and within ten years he was
Superintendent of the News Boys Home on Duane Street in the Bowery.
The News Boys Home was part of the Children's Aid Society. The one on
Duane Street was called "the great Duane Street lodging-house for newsboys."
A notice over the door read "Boys who swear and chew tobacco cannot sleep
here." Another unwritten condition was that the boy who came here must
be really without a home, but the managers would more often than not accept
a boy on his word, without too close a scrutiny of his account of himself.
They were quite aware that many of the homes in the tenements were
unsuitable places to raise these youngsters. One account: "We wuz
six," said an urchin of twelve or thirteen, "and we ain't got no father.
Some on us had to go." Those left to roam the streets would often find
a place in the police books.
On the top floor was a gymnasium with a trapeze. Because fights would
occasionally erupt, the boys pitched in and purchased a set of boxing
gloves. After several miniature black eyes, sundry little scores were
settled and the next day was a fresh start. Since its foundation in
1855, the Duane Street Lodging House sheltered nearly a quarter of a million
different boys at a good deal less than half a million dollars. The
money the boys earned went into "savings banks," a system of lock-boxes that
were emptied for their benefit once a month. The Home would give a
"Newbie" some money to purchase his papers, but he was expected to pay the
Home back. [Source: How The Other Half Lives, Studies Among the
Tenements of New York, by Jacob A. Riis, NY, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1896.]
For further reading:
No.9 Duane Street. The
historical Newsboys' Lodging House.
Articles on the Newsboys' Lodging House that
mention Rudolph Heig
1894 Good Cheer for the Newsboys [New York
Times]
1895 Religion For Children
[New York Times]
1897 Great Night for the
Waifs [New York Times]
1900 Homeless Boys Ambitious
[New York Times]
1902 Boy Started Fire Panic at Newsboys'
Feast [New York Times]
1897 He Pounded Dynamite [New York
Times]
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Rudolph and Augusta had five children. Rudolph Jr. died young in
1902, but the others lived to adulthood and all had children, although
Andrew's only child Alton died in a tragic
accident.
The Heig Family, about 1900
Rudolph Jr., Rudolph, Oscar, Andrew, Augusta, Anna and Margaret |
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Rudolph had a home in Putney, that I believe was built about the turn of the
century. He also had a "yacht" that the family would sail in up the
Connecticut coast to the Housatonic River to Putney, in the northern section
of Stratford. Christian Greenwold
also had a farm close by on Chapel Street, and their homes may have been
next door to each other.
Rudolph was a respected member of the Putney community, and his name is
found upon occasion in the newspapers. On September 30, 1918, he
posted the following ad in the Bridgeport Telegram: "STRATFORD,
PUTNEY--$25.00 reward for the arrest and conviction of the thief who stole
the roosters out of coop at Miss Moore's farm last Wednesday night.
RUDOLPH HEIG."
There are family stories of Rudolph's singing talents and how he, and a
group of other opera loving men, would convene regularly to sing.
Rudolph's wife Augusta died in 1913, and he died in 1919 at age 55. His
beloved farm was either sold or became the property of his son Andrew who
had a home in that area.
The Heig, Muller, Blank and Greenwold families were a close knit group.
They helped each other in times of trouble, but also found joy in family get
togethers. They all believed in education and made every effort to
encourage their children and grandchildren, both boys and girls, to extend
their learning after completing high school. That women should attend
college was the exception and not the rule in those days.
The following is Courtesy of Gertrude Lutze, daughter of Jay and Margaret
Lutze
Rudolph Hajek was born in Vienna, Austria, probably in the late 1850's
or early 1860's. His family came to America when he was six weeks old
and settled in Manhattan, I presume. Upon entering grade school his
teacher spelled his name "Heig" as she felt it easier to pronounce and that
it remained the rest of his life....
Grandpa Heig married Augusta Mueller, from New York. Five children
were born to them: Rudolph, Oscar, Margaret, Andrew and Anna. In that
order. Rudolph died at age 16 from diphtheria, I think. Margaret
became my mother. Oscar, Andrew and Anna became well loved Uncles and
Aunt of mine.
I never knew Grandpa Heig. He died when I was about a year and a half
years old, just shortly after Daddy died, so all I write is hearsay from my
mother and aunt. There is a family picture of the Heig family.
Grandpa has a dark Van Dyke beard and mustache, and looks quite proud with
his wife and brood. Mother called him, "Poppa".
He was meticulous about his clothes, and wore top hat and tails easily,
especially when on his way to the Opera House where he spent a good deal of
his leisure time. In fact, that was his second home. He was well
acquainted with many of the singers, and of course with the opera scores.
Food was another delight of his, at times heavily seasoned with garlic.
Well dressed as he was, he was seldom suspected of offending those near him
with the garlic odor.....
.... Rudolph Heig, was superintendent of the News Boys Home in the
Bowery....There, as Superintendent, he provided shelter, food and recreation
for young newsboys without a home....The Home closed when its usefulness was
over....
The family lived in separate quarters in the Home. The Heig children
received their education from a private teacher who taught them in a
separate section of the school room of the Home.
The Heig family found entertainment within the Home at events given there by
performers donating their talents as well as providing their own musical
evenings. Mother [Margaret Augusta Heig] played the piano well and
sang beautifully, and her parents and brothers and sisters also had musical
capabilities. Their lives were primarily centered in the activities in
the News Boys Home.
After retirement Grandpa Heig went to live in Stratford, Conn. He died
January 23, 1918 [January 2, 1919]. He was buried in the Putney
Cemetery, at Putney, Conn., alongside his wife, Augusta, and his eldest son,
Rudolph [and grandson Alton Francis, son of Andrew Heig].
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